Hobbiton
On
Sunday April 18 our team of 35 met promptly at 8.30am to board our Clarks bus
for our trip to Matamata so promptly that we departed ten minutes ahead of
schedule. Our first comfort stop was Warkworth where coffees were consumed,
then through the Auckland traffic using the bus lanes down to Mercer for lunch
– (bacon butties – yum). Because Matamata could not accommodate us all we went
to Podium Lodge, an Olympic themed motel in Cambridge. We all checked in and
then travelled on to the farm where the Hobbiton movie was set and where the
“Lord of the Rings”, and the Hobbiton Trilogies were filmed by Sir Peter
Jackson.
On our tour we were joined by another group and our tour guide was a
very articulate and witty young man who proceeded to outline the work which
started in March 1999 to create 39 Hobbit cottages using untreated timber,
plywood and polystyrene. An oak tree was bought in from Matamata and artificial
leaves were bought in from Taiwan and wired onto the branches for the film
“Lord of the Rings”. Also for the “The Hobbit trilogy in 2009. These were all
rebuilt of permanent materials and the oak tree which stands high above the
village or Shire was an artificial tree made of steel and silicon again with
leaves wired on and this confused the birds who landed on the leaves when the
wind blew. It still looks very real. An artificial pond which was made for the
film became a home for a colony of frogs whose croaking was drowning out the
actors dialogue. So the frogs were caught and relocated, only to return the
following day. The first film took three months to make, the next only 12 days.
At its peak there were over 500 people on site.
Our guide also told us some of
the “tricks” used by the filmmakers to get the results required. Very clever
and funny! The walk around the ‘Shire’ takes about one and a half hours. While
the footing was reasonable, the path is quite steep in places and some of our
group required buggies. This writer knew nothing about Hobbits or Gandalf and
was lost listening to our guide – unlike Sue Lovelace, who was very familiar
with the stories. However I marvelled at the whole set up which is so real even
down to the washing on the line and firewood at the door. Many photographs were
taken by both groups with most seeming to need to be photographed standing in
the door way of one cottage or other. This did cause some delays, but finally
we all came together for dinner in the Green Dragon dining hall.
Dinner turned
out to be an absolute banquet with the tables groaning under the weight of the
food prepared and when we had consumed this we were presented with dessert
which was just as delicious. No one went hungry. As stated this writer was a
reluctant traveller to start, but I can confess I really enjoyed the experience
and was impressed by the whole organisation (ours and theirs)! One other plus
for me was as a newish member of Onerahi Probus, I got to know my fellow
members better. To people thinking of visiting Hobbiton, please go and see for
yourself, don’t let your lack of Hobbit knowledge deter you. You will enjoy the
experience. Also a big shout out to our bus driver Darryl Meehan who was so
pleasant and obliging. Hopefully this is not the last time we see him.
Hobbiton report courtesy of Jim Beniston
Zealong
The guide was very good and had all the facts at her fingertips, and we did not even have to leave our bus. The statues around the grounds were all in keeping with the theme of tea growing and brewing. The high tea was amazing, the guides took some of the food to our driver as did some of our members, in fact he may have ended up with too much. The shop was well visited by our members, several of us came away with bags of goodies. All in all it was a perfect end to a really good weekend.
Zealong report courtesy of Sue Lovelace
Thank
you to the Community Funding and the Lotteries Commission for making these trips possible.
